I am experimenting with IdeaMaker as an alternative to Cura for IDEX printers. It has much more advanced support for IDEX, including the ability to run the printer in full control mode with the slicer parking the print head. Another nice addition is the ability to have separate gcode start codes when using 1 or 2 extruders.
It took some time to get used to a completely different location for many parameters but this print demonstrates it works well. Still need to tune to eliminate additional stringing which causes discoloration on the yellow background.
This is printed in MatterHacker Build PLA at 200c, 50c bed, 100 percent flow, 70mm/sec default speed, 50mm/sec shells, 90mm/sec infill. 1.8mm retraction at 40mm/sec (this still needs more tuning), retraction at extuder switch 5mm at 20mm/sec.
I had no extrusion issues and I have not modified the printer at all except for tuning the e-step value. I increased it by 20%.
Interesting that flow rate is in the filament definition, not the main “template” (which is what IdeaMaker calls a profile). The default for most Raise3d printers is 96% which will not work with the Artist-D.
Forgot to write down the time the print took, but my guess is about 10-12 hours as I printed it overnight. I used a raft and the rafts produced with IdeaMaker snap right off, completely clean.
Look for a video on this topic in the next week, maybe sooner.
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Isn’t it unfortunate that your Artist D only seems to be able print diseased animals 
I see what you mean about stringing. It does seem a bit much for PLA. I’m wondering if slowing the print down to 50 or even 40 might help.
Yep. These poor animals seem to be the most interesting to print. The real value of the printer will come when used with dissolvable supports. I plan on trying that in the next couple of weeks.
I just started another thread about retraction with a couple of tests. I really hate to slow down the printer since these prints take a long time already.
I am continuing my exploration of Ideamaker. Cura is like an old friend that I have used at least weekly for the past few years. PrusaSlicer has also taken place on my desktop with its excellent monotonic top layer infill, flexible support customization, and easy multi-color printing on a single color printer. (If the 3d printer supports the M600 gcode command.)
So, I was a bit surprised at how quickly Ideamaker grew on me. The IDEX printer support is excellent, which is not surprising since Rasie3d sells multiple industrial multiple nozzle printers. But it is also the innovations they have included, such as textures, the ability to autogenerate supports and then selectively remove them, and the free cut capability I used to turn this single color calibration cat into a multi-color model under a minute.
I am currently working on an Ideamaker video for my youtube channel that should be out later this week or early next week.
Feel free to let me know things you think I should talk about.
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